


Meet Me Under The Mistletoe

by Rothecooldad



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, But far too little common sense and emotional stability, FAHC, Fake AH Crew, GTA AU, Happy Ending, I don't even know what to tag tbh, Light Angst, Like there's far too much mistletoe and alcohol, M/M, These boys i swear s m h
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-10 21:36:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8940253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rothecooldad/pseuds/Rothecooldad
Summary: A Christmas party, scheming friends, and maybe some emotionsJeremy's too drunk (or maybe not drunk enough) for this





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [captainandersmith](https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainandersmith/gifts).



> disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. All characters are based upon the internet personalities portrayed by members of Achievement Hunter and in no way are meant to reflect the lives of the actual person or persons themselves.

Jeremy sipped on his eggnog, letting his gaze follow the length of sparkling Christmas lights that were strung around the room. The penthouse looked as if it had been ravaged by a very festive tornado, the reds and greens and whites covering every available surface. 

 

Everybody was dressed to the nines in their most seasonally appropriate gear. Even Jeremy himself was forced to wear a horrendously itchy woolen jumper, proudly exclaiming that he'd been  _ naughty _ in bright, glittery letters. He pulled at the collar with a grimace and sighed. It was  stiflingly hot in the crowded room, and Jeremy felt like he was going to pass out from heat stroke. He'd have taken the damn thing off ages ago if not for Lindsay's stern warning of,  _ “no holiday cheer, no free beer _ .” The rather poetic threat had been accompanied with a wide grin thrown his way, just on the very edge of menacing that let Jeremy know in no uncertain terms that she fucking meant It, not that he'd be stupid enough to doubt her.

 

And, with the way the rest of the crew had been acting all night, he wasn't risking the loss of alcohol.

 

Jeremy had been pretty suspicious when the idea of a Christmas party was first brought up. Save for Jack and her elf hat and Lindsay with her…  _ overwhelming Lindsay-ness _ , none of the rest of the crew were particularly filled with the holiday spirit. Sure, he caught Gavin humming along to the Christmas carols playing on the radio sometimes, and Geoff kept threatening that Santa was giving them all coal for fucking around on an important heist. But, beyond that, nobody really seemed to care for the holiday.

 

Jeremy understood. Who really needs to use a holiday as an excuse to give gifts when they could easily get whatever they wanted themselves all year long? He used to be filled to the brim with that same holiday cheer he saw in Lindsay's eyes, back when he was young and innocent and the downward spiral of his life hadn't yet fucked him over. But, now he couldn't bring himself to give a fuck when December twenty-fifth rolled around each year.

 

Not to say he was bitter about it. He just… Didn't find the appeal anymore. It was fun for kids, sure, but as an adult? It was just another day.

 

So, Jeremy had been extremely confused and more than a little skeptical about the entire idea. The whole thing seemed even more dubious when everyone else had readily agreed, no questions asked.

 

As with a lot of things that the rest of the crew thought were great ideas, Jeremy had a few reservations.

 

Why throw a party now, when they hadn't had a Christmas party in the years since he had been there? What changed that apparently led to all of them wanting to fucking deck the penthouse halls or something equally as bullshit and cliché? They weren't in a goddamn Hallmark movie; they were  _ criminals,  _ Christ. Nobody was expecting them to all gather around the Christmas tree together in their pajamas, drinking hot cocoa and basking in their tidings of comfort and joy. Well, nobody except Lindsay, but she was definitely an outlier in this situation.

 

And surely,  _ surely, _ they didn't have enough people to consider it an actual party, right? The crew wasn't  _ that  _ big.

 

(As it turned out, yes. Yes, they did in fact have enough people. More than enough, really. And,  _ wow _ , Jeremy hadn't realized just how much the support team had expanded since he had been promoted to main crew. Looking out into a sea of familiar faces all crammed into one room was startling, not to mention all that red and green Was hurting Jeremy's eyes.)

 

His other questions had been left unanswered, but as the party was planned out and the rest of crew became more and more excited as time went on, Jeremy decided to ignore his own doubts and just let everybody else enjoy themselves.  _ Fuck it,  _ he thought. A Christmas party couldn't possibly be that bad. Who's it going to hurt, anyway? 

 

Unfortunately, as the night wore on and the party was in full swing, Jeremy realized,  _ oh right. Him. _

 

With the holiday music blasting through the penthouse, and alcohol rapidly making its way into everybody's systems, the crew's motives were becoming clearer and clearer, leaving Jeremy to wish that maybe he wouldn't have been so generous and just ignored the whole ordeal altogether.

 

Because now,  _ now,  _ he was stuck standing in the corner, drinking spiked eggnog that was far more alcohol than dairy, afraid to even fucking move in fear of getting caught under one of the many goddamn sprigs of mistletoe that somebody had _ so graciously  _ decided to hang up all over the fucking place.  _ Again.  _

 

He'd already been forced into enough awkward situations that night, the fucking mistletoe proving to be just as infuriating as he suspected it would be when he first laid eyes on the greenery hanging in every room.  

 

Luckily, Jack had been extremely kind when it had been the two of them, letting him get away with just a friendly kiss on the cheek, much to the disappointment of the others watching.

  
  


When he'd been trapped with Mica, she just smirked  mischievously and pecked his lips before walking away, happy to have been the center of attention. Jeremy was left standing there, blushing, still under the mistletoe. 

 

He didn't miss the look Matt had given him from across the room, eyes narrowed as he tracked Mica's retreating form. A part of him wanted to beckon Matt over, point at the mistletoe above them and just go for it, just kiss him in front of the rest of the crew and get it over with. To apologize for  _ that night, _ tell him that,  _ of course _ he wants everyone to know, he was just scared and stupid and  _ pathetic _ , and,  _ oh God, _ he wants to hold Matt again.

 

Instead, he gave one last longing look toward the man and turned away, scurrying as far from where he'd been standing as he could manage.

 

Each encounter was wearing on his nerves and the alcohol only helped so much, so he picked a corner to stay in and hadn't dared to move since. He watched the others laugh when they would walk under it, some people sharing affectionate pecks and others growing quite steamier, encouraged by the wolf whistles that would erupt each time, alcohol draining them of what (admittedly, very  _ very)  _ few inhibitions they might have had when sober.

 

Eventually, as he so often did, Jeremy found the glaring flaw in his brilliantly thought out plan. He squinted angrily at his empty glass before sighing. Maybe he could get away with turning in early.

 

The thought of leaving this shitshow was too tempting to pass, so with a quick glance around the room, Jeremy made a hasty retreat.

 

Finally, after dodging people left and right to get away, Jeremy was in the clear.

 

Or so he had thought, until he had taken one last fleeting glance over his shoulder and was greeted with a sight that sent a cold chill down his spine. Above him was another of those fucking mistletoe that he must have missed when he walked over because he sure as hell would have avoided it like the plague if he'd known. That alone was enough to drive him up the wall right now, and Jeremy was ready to fucking book it out of there.

 

The only thing stopping him was Matt standing right in front of him, a strained smile that looked more like a grimace on his face as his eyes flicked between Jeremy and the offending plant. 

 

“Uh… hi?” Matt broke the silence uncertainly. Gavin was just behind him, grinning and giving them a thumbs up. He obviously had a hand in this… _ whatever it was _ . Jeremy bit back an annoyed groan.

 

And, honestly? Jeremy wasn't in the mood to deal with this right now. He was drunk and sweaty and just goddamn sick of the entire fucking night, and here was  _ Matt,  _ stupid  _ pretty  _ Matt, standing in his way. 

 

Jeremy pointedly ignored him and looked at Gavin. Fucking Gavin who was standing there with that stupid fucking smug look on his face and his eyes shining with something that couldn't be considered anything  _ other _ than  _ pure goddamn evil  _ that made Jeremy want to march over there and fucking deck him right in his stupid fucking nose.

 

Jeremy shook his head. Nope, he was one hundred percent  _ not _ up for this bullshit tonight.

 

“ _ Fuck off _ .” He told them, voice cracking.

 

He didn't bother sticking around to see their reactions, or else he would have seen Gavin furrowing his brow in confusion, or watched Matt's face fall. If he had, maybe he might have stayed and let whatever happened happen. But, right now, the only thing that was on Jeremy's mind  was how badly he needed to get the fuck out of this situation, and  _ fast _ . So, without thinking, he let his far-from-sober instincts take over, dropping to the ground and army crawling passed the two men before hopping up and running across the room.

 

He had made it halfway when he ran straight into Geoff's back, almost falling on his ass. 

 

“Whoa there, Lil J. Where's the fire?” Geoff adjusted his sweater with one hand, holding his glass steady with the other.

 

Before Jeremy could respond, Geoff looked past him and raised an eyebrow.

 

“Alright,” Geoff said, dragging the word out suspiciously. “What are you fucks up to?” 

 

Jeremy opened his mouth to respond, to give some offhanded excuse that would convince Geoff not to worry and to let him fucking  _ go  _ before the others showed up, when he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. Jeremy tensed.

 

“Jeremy,” Matt said softly. His fingers twitched.

 

Jeremy counted to ten, breathing in slowly. Finally, after he felt relatively more calm, he turned to face Matt. He was frowning down at Jeremy, concern plainly written in his eyes. Jeremy's stomach lurched. He chose to blame it on the liquor.

 

After a moment, Matt looked like he was bracing himself for  _ something,  _ the way his hand dropped to a fist at his side, his knuckles white and his lips pressed into a straight line. 

 

Jeremy wanted to flee again, to try to ignore this like he did all of his other problems.

 

He didn’t move, his feet frozen in place as he stared at Matt, wide-eyed and helpless. Behind him, Gavin was whispering something to Geoff that Jeremy couldn't make out.

 

They stood there for what felt like hours, but was probably closer to a few  _ agonizingly _ long seconds, when Matt broke the silence.

 

“I'm sorry,” he got out nervously. He closed his eyes for a moment. Jeremy felt his heart pounding in his chest, loud and pitiful. Matt looked so damn sad, and fuck if Jeremy wasn't affected. It made him want to wrap Matt in his arms and never let go.

 

But, he couldn't, not anymore. It wasn't his place to comfort Matt. Not when this was  _ Jeremy's  _ fault.  _ He  _ did this. Guilt gnawed at him, another painful reminder of what he'd given up.

 

“Look, lads!” Gavin cut in before Jeremy could come up with a response.  The two broke eye contact to stare at Gavin standing next to them, his hand outstretched above them. Jeremy's eyes traveled the length of his arm until he saw what Gavin had in his fist.

 

“ _ Not now, asshole.”  _ Jeremy hissed through gritted teeth.

 

“Come on, Lil J!” Gavin continued, ignoring their protests. He shook the mistletoe in front of their faces. “What's a kiss amongst  _ friends?”  _

 

_ We aren't friends,  _ he wanted to cry out.  _ We can't be. We never could. And I fucked that up. _

 

Jeremy swallowed, looking at a startled Matt.

 

_ What's a kiss amongst friends? _

 

_ Everything,  _ he wanted to say. 

 

“Nothing,” he said instead, letting out a chuckle that sounded fake to his own ears.

 

Matt whipped his head around to stare at Jeremy. Jeremy couldn't read the expression on his face but all of his nerves were on edge.

 

_ Fuck it,  _ he thought, eyes flitting down to Matt's lips. Before he could talk himself out of it, Jeremy surged forward and wrapped a hand around the back of Matt’s neck, pulling him down. He paused, their lips inches apart, silently asking Matt for permission.

 

Matt closed the gap, lips pressing against Jeremy's in a way that was so _achingly_ _familiar_ that Jeremy could do nothing but melt into it, all the while thinking _I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry._

 

Matt pulled away first, letting the hand that had been cradling Jeremy's cheek fall. 

 

Jeremy had yet to open his eyes, to  _ breathe  _ again, waiting for the other shoe to drop. When nothing came, he chanced a look around and realized almost nobody save for Geoff and Gavin-- both of them sporting shit-eating grins-- had even seen what had happened.

 

That was… Good. Good. He was fine. Nobody cared. He was okay. Jeremy was scared for nothing. 

 

But that didn't stop his now trembling hands and his thundering heartbeat roaring in his ears, didn't put an end to the whispered worries plaguing his thoughts that this would all go  _ wrong.  _ If anybody knew, it became real. And if it was real, it could be taken away. It could be used against him.

 

No.

 

_ Nonononono. _

 

He turned back to Matt, willing his shakiness to disappear.

 

“I-i…” Jeremy choked out, chest tight. He tried to make his mouth form actual words, but all that came were stilted breaths. He couldn't process what was going on, not while he was still there in front of  _ Matt  _ and  _ everyone.  _

 

So, he did what he did best.

 

He turned tail and ran from his problems.

 

“Wait, Jeremy,” he could hear Matt call from behind him, but at that point, Jeremy was too far gone to properly care, focusing entirely on getting the fuck away from everybody.

 

And, that's how Jeremy found himself sitting on a rickety fire escape in below freezing weather, head in his hands and his ugly Christmas sweater balled at his feet as he tried to make sense of the absolute fuckery that his life had become.

 

He didn't bother looking up when he felt the heat of another body sitting down next to him. He already knew who it was.

 

“Hey,” Matt greeted gently. Jeremy hummed in  acknowledgement, too tired and humiliated to do much else.

 

_ “ _ Why the fuck are you just in your tank top?” Matt asked, disapproval lacing his words.  “Where's your fucking sweater, you dumbass?” 

 

Jeremy nudged the fabric with his foot.

 

“Was itchy,” he mumbled. “And hot.”

 

“Well, I already knew you were hot.” 

 

Though he couldn't see Matt's face, the wink was obviously implied and it forced a snort out of Jeremy. 

 

It was nice to joke around like this again. He missed it. He missed  _ Matt.  _

 

“Still though,” Matt continued, reaching down and picking up the sweater. He handed it to Jeremy. “Don't want to get sick.”

 

If it had been anyone else, Jeremy wouldn't have bothered. He was a big boy, he knew what he was in for.

 

But the pure concern dripping from Matt had Jeremy putting the sweater back on without hesitation.

 

“Thanks, babe.” He said without thinking. He froze, holding his breath.

 

“ _ Jerem,”  _ Matt murmured softly. 

 

That was too much for Jeremy, his emotions finally spilling out of him.

 

“I'm sorry, Matt. I'm so fucking sorry.” Jeremy apologized, wiping his eye on his sleeve. 

 

“Don't-” Matt tried to say, but Jeremy carried on, still avoiding Matt's gaze.

 

“ _ Jeremy,”  _ Matt said again, more forceful this time. Jeremy finally turned to him.

 

“No, Jeremy.  _ I'm  _ sorry.”

 

That startled Jeremy, effectively cutting off his rambling. He stared at Matt.

 

“.... what?” 

 

“I  _ said,”  _ Matt repeated carefully. “That I'm sorry. I shouldn't have dragged Gavin into this. I shouldn't have pushed you. I'm. Sorry.”

“What the fuck?” Jeremy shook his head, standing up.

 

“Excuse me?” 

 

“You heard me. Fuck you.” Jeremy argued. “You have nothing to be sorry for, okay,  _ I'm  _ the one in the wrong here. Asshole.” 

 

“No, I-” 

 

“Shut the fuck up and listen, shithead.” Jeremy began pacing. “I was scared. Alright? Fucking scared. It's fucking dumb and irrational, but it's true. I was fucking terrified that if anybody knew about us, something would have to give. We were too happy and nothing in my life stays good for that long.” 

 

Jeremy took a shaky breath.

 

“But you  _ are  _ and you  _ have  _ and I fucked that up with my own bullshit reasoning. And I'm really fucking sorry, Matt.”

 

He stopped pacing and stood in front of Matt. Jeremy looked up at him, letting his eyes say what he can't.

 

“But, the thing is, I  _ do  _ want everybody to know. Fuck, I love you, Matt Bragg. I can't believe it took me this long to get my head out of my ass long enough to admit it, but I really really fucking do.”

 

The confession hung in the air between them as Matt said nothing, but Jeremy couldn't bring himself to regret it.

 

Matt's shoulders slumped, and he smiled.

 

“It's about damn time, Dooley.” Matt stepped forward and pulled Jeremy to his chest, holding on tight. Jeremy didn't mind.

 

“And, for the record, I love you, too. In case you uh- you didn't get the memo.”

 

Jeremy's grin was painfully wide.

 

“Shut up, idiot.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> So this started as a cute little fluff fic that my friend requested near the end of November  
> I barely got any of it done before deciding to say fuck it and adding in some angst  
> It went much faster after that, which I'm sure says plenty about me as a person
> 
> Come find me @ [ jinglejeremy ](http://jinglejeremy.tumblr.com)


End file.
